PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

450 Chapter 450 True Intentions

Seeing the two beautiful but tiny crystals in Titania’s hand, Desmond couldn’t help but ask. “What are they?”

Making the crystals dance in her palm, Titania explained. “One elemental seed of water and one of wind.”

Seeing that Desmond didn’t seem to have things any clearer, Titania continued. “Normally, when a mana user takes his third step, he should form an elemental seed in his heart. This crystallizes the user’s mana control, understanding, and mastery. In a normal case, a mana user takes several months and spends a lot of resources to gather the right amount of pure enough mana. Imbuing the crystal with your understanding and mastery of an element is also not easy. My gift to you is one crystal for each element you master. Although incomplete, as they lack your understanding and elemental mastery, these will make things very easy for you all the way until you take your third step on the path of mana.”

This was the first time Desmond had heard of anything related to elemental seeds. These were a requirement to advance to the three-star class and spoke to their value. This also tells Desmond that advancing down the mana path is more complicated than he knew.

“Wait, you said three seeds.”

Seeing Desmond pointing at the two crystals floating in her hand, Titania felt quite amused within herself and decided to tease her dear daughter a bit. “Oh, sure. How could I forget it? here, this one goes with all my love.”

Finishing her little joke that made Kyuru fume, Titania made a gesture as if she was blowing a kiss in the air. From her lips came a golden sigh that formed a golden crystal very similar to the other two.

Titania needed a sigh to do what a group of twelve fairies took a few minutes. And this one was just a puppet under the control of Titania; Desmond sighed helplessly as he felt that to the real Titania, he was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust.

“What should I do with the crystals?”

.....

Titania seemed a little disappointed that Desmond wasn’t affected by her joke, but she still responded professionally. “Take them and put them on your chest. Feel the mana and guide it to your heart. Having these crystals inside won’t give you a direct entry to the three-star class, but it makes travel a lot easier. Furthermore, it will also make your mana reserves much more abundant and your mana purer. Once you feel the difference, you will know how valuable an Elemental Seed is.”

Not doubting Titania’s words for a second, Desmond placed the crystals in front of his heart and followed the faerie queen’s instructions. It was as if the crystals weren’t solid as they pierced through his chest without resistance.

Desmond could feel the crystals settle into his heart and begin the assimilation process. Intuitively, Desmond knew the process would take a few minutes, so he took advantage of the situation to continue talking with Titania.

“I guess this will help me realize how wasteful it would be to try to continue using fire.”

Titania had no reason to hide the truth. “That’s how it is. I wouldn’t make a fire crystal for you even if my daughter asked me to. It would do you more harm than good.”

Desmond shrugged. “You give me very little credit. I had already made up my mind about it last night. Even I can’t afford to waste my efforts. Still, there is something that doesn’t quite make sense to me. Why do you help me?”

Only now did Desmond see the mother and daughter resemblance between Titania and Kyuru, as the queen of the faeries gave Desmond a familiar look that said: you’re an idiot.

“You are the man my daughter chose. You may be pathetically weak and insignificant, but that doesn’t stop my daughter from considering you worthy. Since you have a bit of talent, the least I can do is give you a little help so that you can protect my daughter.”

Desmond didn’t answer, or rather, he couldn’t answer. A stream of information from the golden crystal emerged in the most critical part of the assimilation process. It installed itself without permission in Desmond’s mind. Intentions and concepts previously unknown to Desmond were now imprinted on him as if they had always been his.

The information was so perfect that Desmond knew precisely what it was. Desmond wanted to thank her wholeheartedly for the gift hidden within the golden crystal, but Titania cut him off.

“It’s just an old technique that I used to use. It will take you a while to get the hang of it, but I feel it suits you. It’s quite versatile, so I’m sure you’ll put it to good use.”

Desmond understood that Titania was trying to minimize her gesture to not hurt his pride, but he didn’t care. Desmond was someone who knew how to pay a debt, and pride was never important to him in the first place.

“Thank you, Titania.”

Desmond might not know it since it was a trait carved deep into his subconscious, but he was a proud man. Perhaps his pride was different from the majority, but it was still there, and Titania knew it; she could feel it. Seeing that someone as proud as Desmond could bow in thanks without a hint of reluctance was a breath of fresh air for Titania.

To be honest, Titania liked Desmond more and more. Pride was necessary to climb to the top. Only someone with a strong sense of self could be up to the task of overcoming the difficulties to come. But Desmond’s pride was one of the nicest Titania had ever seen, and this brought comfort to the faerie queen.

They say that all good things must end, and the time for Desmond’s group to depart is near. Titania gave Cecilia an apologetic look and commented.

“I apologize, I would have prepared a gift for you, but you don’t need what I gave Desmond. For someone born with the light in her heart, it’s tough to give a decent gift.”

Cecilia might be a bit ignorant and innocent at times. However, she still understood that Titania was the queen of the fairies. Seeing Titania apologize was quite a shock to her. It took a second for Cecilia to recover before answering.

“You don’t need to apologize. Seeing this place was already a gift for me.”

Titania nodded politely before turning back to her daughter. “Remember what I told you, my daughter. Be careful out there.”

As time passed, both Desmond and Cecilia began to feel the effects of mana poisoning; it seemed that their bodies had reached their limit within this world.

The trio set off for the exit under Titania’s guidance. It was a leisurely walk where the trio had a chance to get one last look at the world of fairies. Though only Kyuru and Titania knew of this at the time, Desmond and Cecilia didn’t know that they couldn’t go back to the fairy realm.

Arriving at the entrance the trio used to enter, Titania seemed to remember something. “I almost forget it. Desmond, catch him.”

Completely instinctively, Desmond’s right hand shot out, catching the object thrown by Titania. At the moment of contact, it was as if an electric current ran through Desmond so profoundly that his very soul was electrocuted.

The slight electrical flash told Titania enough. “I guess it really lacked having contact with a human being. That explains why it didn’t react no matter how hard I tried.”

Desmond managed to snap out of his daze just to hear Titania’s words. He needed a lot of patience not to swear at being used as a guinea pig. Swallowing his anger, Desmond glanced at the item in his hand.

To be honest, Desmond didn’t expect it to be just an ugly piece of burnt wood. More specifically, it looked like a piece of a tree struck by lightning. The only strange thing is that it felt more like a rock or gem than wood; that and the occasional electrical flash.

Before Desmond could ask, Titania chimed in. “I have a vague idea of ??what it is. It is quite valuable, but it is not compatible with me. My only options were to keep it forever or destroy it. Now that someone can take it, it seems appropriate that you keep it. Don’t worry, this isn’t exactly a gift; one could say that you are doing us a favor by taking it.”

Having more or less read Titania so far, Desmond knew there was no use in arguing, so he nodded and kept the item with him. Titania didn’t seem to want to explain the object, so Desmond didn’t ask.

Farewells were said, and Desmond’s group prepared to leave. The first to leave were Kyuru and Cecilia. Desmond was about to go through the stone door when Titania said something to him with a hint of teasing.

“Try not to be too scared; you’ll be fine. But let it be a lesson to you. You must be careful of the true intentions of others when working with them.”

Desmond heard this when he was taking the step to go through the portal back to Serefia, so he didn’t have time to process it before he was on the other side of the door. Desmond tried to make sense of those words when someone he didn’t expect to see appeared.

“Katya?”